


Take Me Out To The Black

by Asphodelia



Series: Media AUs [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefly Setting, It's naked!Kylo, M/M, What's in that box?, firefly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 11:56:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9234083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asphodelia/pseuds/Asphodelia
Summary: Hux wouldn't have let that girl on his ship if he'd known her cargo was a wanted fugitive. No matter how good he looked naked.-Firefly AU





	

She was not his Finalizer. Hux’s beloved Finalizer had been seized by the Republic that had been formed after the planets on the outer rim had defeated the core worlds. She had probably been repurposed as some sort of passenger vessel or, worse, been stripped for parts. Maybe she was being made to fly in the Republic’s fleet –

It did not bear thinking about. Hux’s vessel was the Endor, now – an older Firefly-class transport ship which he had named after the battle that had led to the collapse of everything he believed in. He had wanted a reminder to brood over. Also, a part of him liked the symmetry. Endor. Ender. Finalizer.

Phasma had thought the name was a terrible idea when he’d first brought it up. 

Hux could easily get himself worked up to the point of uselessness if he let himself think about the war for too long, as Phasma well knew. She had been with him since they were both respected Imperial officers. Now they were both criminals living on the fringes of society, but it could be much worse. He could easily have ended up living a life of continuous drunkenness on some backwater planet if Phasma had let him. But she hadn’t. 

Now, it had been a couple years since he’d purchased the Endor and he quite loved her. No, she was not his Finalizer, but he had room in his heart for more than one ship. That was why he hated the thought of some filthy rebel flying her. Which had happened. For over a year. 

Dameron was a good pilot. An excellent pilot, even, and for a long time Hux had felt fortunate to have him as part of his crew. He had even liked Finn – a soldier who had worked under Phasma during the war and found it difficult to find legitimate employment afterwards – better for having found him for them. That morning, however, he had learnt the truth about Poe Dameron – he was a Brown Coat. He had flown for the rebels during the war. 

Hux had needed him off his ship as quickly as possible. Honestly, Dameron was lucky they had already landed on a planet when Hux found out or he might have found himself tossed out of an air-lock. 

Finn had gone with Dameron after Hux fired him. Traitor. 

It would be just him, Phasma, and Mitaka for a while now. He and Phasma were both competent enough pilots, so hiring a new one was not too urgent a matter. They would need more crew before they took on any more dangerous jobs, though. For now, they would earn some funds by taking on passengers.

Or, that was the plan, but only two people seemed to want to buy passage with them: a nondescript man whose name Hux forgot ten seconds after he’d said it and a young woman named Rey who was transporting a large, refrigerated, box. There was probably some type of illegal substance in the box, but that hardly mattered to Hux. He didn’t ask any questions. 

Later, once they were off the planet and poor, loyal to his core, Mitaka had been shot by the nondescript man over the contents of the box, Hux would regret that decision. 

-

“I am going to find out what is in that box.”

“Don’t open it!” Rey was surprisingly strong for her slight frame, but so was Hux. He managed to push by her and, when she tried to make another grab for him, Phasma caught and restrained her. They had managed to subdue the shooter and would be interrogating him soon, but he was only partially to blame for what had happened. Shooting Mitaka would not go unpunished regardless of the circumstances surrounding it, but it was clear that the man had not come on board with the intention of harming his crew. He wanted the box, and Mitaka had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

That made Rey responsible too. So, Hux did not particularly care why she was so upset over the idea of his opening her box. 

The refrigerated container hissed open to reveal a man. A very naked man. 

A very attractive, very naked, man with a very broad, chiseled, and – once again – naked form. 

He was asleep at first, his knees held up to his stomach and his unruly black hair obscuring his face. Then, he was very suddenly not asleep. He was standing, and he had Hux by the neck. 

“Ben! Ben, it’s okay, you’re safe now, I promise.” Rey ran from Phasma – who had released her in favor of pointing a gun at the naked man – and towards ‘Ben’, who seemed somewhat pacified by her presence. He calmed down enough to release Hux, anyways. There was still a wild, dangerous, sort of panic in his eyes. 

“It’s Kylo now.” 

“O-ok, Kylo then. You’re fine, Kylo. We made it. We got you away from there.” 

“What IS this!?” Hux rubbed at his throat, impatient for an answer as to what was going on.

“This is my brother. Well, cousin, technically.” 

The technical-cousin watched Hux with hostility from behind a curtain of black hair. He looked like he would be happy to keep on choking him if Rey hadn’t moved to stand in his way.

He had either not noticed yet that he was naked, or he didn’t care. 

“And what was your cousin doing in a box in my cargo hold? Why did a member of my crew get shot over him?” Hux let his voice sink down to its most dangerous tone. 

“I’m sorry about Mitaka, I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt.” Rey shook her head. “It’s a really long story.” 

“Then just give me the highlights.” 

Rey explained, as briefly as she was able to, that her cousin Ben had been like a big brother to her when she was growing up. Then, when he had just graduated high school, he was offered a scholarship to a university their family had never heard of. Apparently he had markers for some kind of gift the school hoped they could awaken in him. Ben had taken the scholarship, and disappeared. He didn’t come home for holidays, and he hardly even wrote. When he did write it didn’t sound like him. Ben’s parents and Rey’s father had all thought this was typical of Ben and the rebellious phase he’d been going through when he’d left. It wasn’t until after Ben’s four year program should have been done and he still didn’t come home that Rey could convince the adults in her family that the school was up to something. The investigation took another few years, hampered by the chaos and reorganization that had followed the war. They’d put everything they had – financially and emotionally – into it and finally discovered that Ben was being -

Kylo put his hand over Rey’s mouth. “No.” 

“What? That isn’t the real story? Someone had better start making sense.” Some of the heat had gone out of Hux’s fury when he’d become absorbed in Rey’s story, but it would return soon enough if she was wasting his time.

“Torture. She was going to say they tortured me, but they didn’t. They made me better.” 

“What the hell, Ben, do you want to go back?!”

The naked man froze for a moment, then walked very suddenly to a different part of the cargo hold. He did not flee, he just seemed to have urgent staring business to attend to with an old crate. There was nothing in his posture to suggest he was anything less than 100% content with his current situation, despite being naked and among angry strangers. 

His lack of shame was truly remarkable. Not that he had anything to be ashamed about.

Kylo turned back to look at Hux for a moment and smiled oddly, almost bashfully. He was a strange man, it was no wonder his cousin kept him in a box while they traveled. 

Kylo snorted and looked away just as suddenly as he’d smiled.

Hux shook his head at the man’s odd behaviour and turned back to Rey. 

“So, that man was from your cousin’s ‘school’, then?” Hux took the whole ‘I rescued my cousin from a shady experiment’ story in stride. He had been a fairly high ranking military official not too many years ago and he had heard a lot of rumours about different experiments the government, as well as private companies like Blue Sun, may or may not have been performing. Experiments to modify the human temperament, experiments to enhance intelligence – even absurd rumours about experiments that gave people psychic powers. Hux had never put any stock in the more outlandish rumours, but there were enough whispers of the same type that he had assumed something must be happening. 

“No, he’s from the government. The organization that had Ben –“

“Kylo.” Kylo had made his way over to Phasma, who looked wholly unimpressed with him and was still pointing her gun. Kylo seemed wholly unimpressed with the gun and was now standing directly in front of it.

“ – they spread a lie that we’re criminals. And, well, I did have to do some things during the investigation and the rescue.”

An agent of the Republic there on official business. Did anybody know exactly where he was? If they did, then Hux couldn’t risk harm coming to him. More agents would come looking. He also couldn’t risk letting him go empty handed – he’d tell his superiors where he last saw his targets. Although he was careful not to let it show on his face, Hux realized he needed to hand Rey and her cousin over or it could mean trouble for himself and his crew. 

It physically pained him to cooperate with an agent of this new, illegitimate, government but there was really no other choice. 

“It sounds like you’ve been through a lot, Rey. I’m sorry we can’t help, but it’ll be trouble for us to have you on board for too long. I’m leaving you on the next terraformed world we pass.” Hux lied with the truth – he would be leaving them on the next planet, but it would be in the custody of the government agent.

“He can’t reach them.” Kylo’s voice came from near Hux’s ear, startling him backwards. The larger – persistently naked – took another step towards him then, advancing into his personal space once more. Hux frowned and faced him, refusing to be intimidated. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Hux noticed Rey becoming very uncomfortable and did not blame her in the slightest.

“And who exactly can’t I reach?”

“Not you. The agent. He’s trying and trying, but he can’t. He’s all alone. Nobody will help him. You need a pilot.”

“…What?” Kylo seemed to be saying that the agent hadn’t been able to tell his superiors where he was, but there was no way he could know that…

The last thing Kylo said hit Hux very suddenly. “How do you know I need a pilot?” Hux practically growled, stepping up to Kylo. He had expected him to step back, but he didn’t. Hux’s chest was now just barely touching the naked chest of the other man. In full view of his unfortunate cousin (and Phasma, but she probably didn’t care). 

“I’m a pilot. Rey can keep your engines running. You should keep us around.” 

That was absurd.

“And be chased constantly by the government and whoever else is after you? No thank you.”

“They don’t know we’re here, and you already run from the authorities. You’re criminals.” 

“We don’t know that, B-Kylo!” Rey seemed to be trying to lessen whatever damage she thought her cousin was doing to their cause.

“I know it.” Kylo shrugged and continued standing casually in Hux’s personal space. It probably looked ridiculous, but Hux couldn’t back away now without losing.

Kylo laughed suddenly. Whatever the ‘school’ had done must have had an effect on his sanity.

“I really am a mechanic.” Rey continued pushing their case. “A good one. And Kylo’s a great pilot. We need to keep moving, at least for a while, and we can earn our keep.” 

If the agent really hadn’t told anyone where he was (and could thus be disposed of discreetly) then the opportunity to recruit both a pilot and a mechanic who were too desperate to demand any kind of wage upfront was actually tempting. 

There was one more issue, though; Rey was still partially responsible for a member of his crew taking a bullet. 

Kylo went to sit cross-legged in the middle of the floor. Hux gestured towards Phasma, and she adjusted her aim to target Rey.

“Go sit with your cousin.”

She obeyed begrudgingly. “You’re making a mistake.” 

“Am I? Because I’m considering your proposal.” 

Rey brightened instantly. “You are?”

“I’m leaving it up to Mitaka. If he pulls through you can stay, although you will be on probation. If Mitaka does not pull through I’ll need you to leave my ship immediately. We won’t have time to land first.” 

Hux left the cargo bay to go check on Mitaka. It was touch-and-go for a while, but in the end he stabilized. They ejected the government agent from the ship and – tentatively – accepted Kylo and Rey as new members of their crew. 

-

“How long is our probation?” Kylo asked one day, about a month after he and Rey had been accepted onto the Endor. A long, infuriating, month that felt like a lifetime. Jobs had been scarce, they were constantly dodging people who were hunting Kylo and Rey, and now there was a herd of cows stinking up Hux’s cargo bay. 

Kylo wore clothes now, at least. Not that Hux had in any way minded the view that first day.

Kylo smiled like he was preening. 

It had become apparent that he had some kind of sense about what people were thinking (absurd, but true), which was why Hux usually tried to focus on how strange and uncivilized he was while in his presence. Any time he thought something even vaguely complementary Kylo started looking either pleased or bashful, which made Hux very uncomfortable, and so it was better not to have any kind thoughts about him if he could help it. 

The thoughts he tried to stifle included; anything about Kylo’s physical appearance, anything to do with his skills as a pilot, anything relating to how strong he must be to have come through what he had, and any positive reactions to his frequent teasing. 

To distract himself from the ‘pro’ list, he needed only to remember any part of the ‘con’ list.

The potential mind reading was not even the biggest problem with Kylo. It was number four behind strangeness, a general lack of civilized behaviour, and the ‘episodes’. The most recent episode involved a lot of screaming about how he wasn’t a person anymore, he was a weapon. It could be hard to watch. Rey usually managed to calm him down, and everyone else just let her handle it (Mitaka had tried to help once and Kylo had actually bitten him to make him go away. Hard. He’d drawn a lot of blood. Mitaka now stayed as far away from Kylo as possible).

“Indefinitely. You’re on probation for as long as I decide you’re on probation.” 

“You might never decide if you don’t put a date on it. You like keeping people on their toes.”

“My ship, my prerogative.” Hux shrugged and turned a page in his book. He was sitting up in the dining room reading before bed, and Kylo was there watching him. When he wasn’t flying the ship he was often watching Hux. 

“I’m trying to make plans. It’s inconvenient.”

Hux forced himself not to roll his eyes – it was childish.

“What, looking to use up some vacation time once you have job security?”

“I’m going to kiss you. ‘Probation’ means I can’t screw up at all, right? But when it’s over you have to give me second chances and shit. So if I kissed you and you didn’t like it you’d give me a warning instead of kicking us off the ship.”

“Do I have an HR department I don’t know about? That’s not how it works, Kylo.” Hux couldn’t stop the eye roll this time. 

….Wait.

Hux felt his face flush and tried to force it to stop. He did his best to ignore Kylo’s smirk as he stood and made his way back to his bunk. 

-

They arrived at the cows’ new home planet a few days after the odd conversation in the kitchen.

Kylo and Rey had become jointly fascinated by the sight of the cows making themselves at home in their new pasture. While they watched the animals, he and Phasma went to find the rancher and get paid.

Mitaka stayed back at the ship and started power washing the cargo hold. Hux had planned to hire somebody to do that, but when Mitaka had started of his own volition he didn’t stop him. It saved money.

The meeting with the buyer was mildly frustrating. He tried to haggle, even though his initial agreement had not been with Hux. It had taken a bit of intimidation to get any money out of him. 

All of the irritation Hux was feeling vanished the second he saw Kylo. He was gently petting a cow, a soft smile lighting up his face. Eyes that were usually dark and stormy appeared somehow warm, and everything about him exuded peace and contentment. It was only by contrast that Hux realized Kylo usually looked… tormented. Even when he wasn’t having an episode. Even when he was smirking and making bad jokes. 

“She’s very happy now.” Kylo stated as Hux approached him and the animal.

“She must realize that her new farmer doesn’t raise beef.” 

“It’s not that. It’s that she’s exactly where she’s supposed to be, and she knows it. In the meadow, with lots of grass and sunshine and other cows – this is where she goes.”

“She’s got everything she needs, I suppose.” Hux was beginning to feel silly discussing the emotional fulfillment of a cow.

“Everything she needs and everything that needs her. I want to be like this someday.” 

Hux scoffs. “People don’t work like that. It’s not in our nature to be content.” 

“That’s true.” Kylo frowns, and Hux realizes that he ruined it. He’s known Kylo for over a month, seen him really happy all of once, and he ruined it. “And I’m not even a person.” 

“Oh, of course you are.” Hux’s voice was frustrated.

“I’m not. They took that. It’s okay, though, I’m better now.” He said it like he didn’t really believe it, but felt like he should. Like it was some kind of mantra. Hux realized it probably was. 

“You’re a person to Rey, aren’t you? Her brother-cousin…person.” 

“Ben was.” Kylo shrugged and walked away, leaving Hux alone with the cow.

-

They were going to burn him. They were actually going to burn Kylo at the stake. For witchcraft. 

The fool had wandered off alone after Hux had ruined his moment with the cow (he did not feel guilt, he did not feel guilty, hedidnotfeelguilty…) and gotten mixed up with a highly superstitious, potentially inbred, mob that lived up in the mountains near the buyer’s ranch. Rey too, although not as badly. They probably wouldn’t burn her if she didn’t insist on staying up on the pyre with her family. 

So, of course they were going to rescue them. Phasma had seemed to find it a novelty that he wanted to – she thought she’d have to talk him into it – and he wasn’t sure how to take that. 

In any case, Phasma and Mitaka would be providing air support soon. Right now it was just Hux and his pistol staring down a crowd of savages wielding torches and literal pitchforks. 

“That’s my pilot and mechanic. I’ll be taking them back now.” 

“You can take the girl, but that man is a witch.” Spoke the supposed leader of the mob.

“Perhaps. But he’s our witch and I'm not done with him. He’s needed.”

Kylo had been staring blankly in Hux’s general direction. Now, some life started to return to his eyes. 

He whispered something to himself and, while Hux was too far away to hear it, he would later confirm that it was the same thing he’d said about the cow. 

“Everything I need and everything that needs me.” 

The crowd wasn’t terribly concerned by Hux on his own, but when Phasma flew the Endor over their heads and Mitaka pointed a sniper rifle at them from the open cargo hold they begrudgingly relented. 

It was later that night, when everyone else had gone to bed and they were the last two sitting up in the kitchen, that Kylo kissed him. 

It was wonderful. An all-around terrible idea, but one that he realized he was going to see through. He worried he may have made that decision a while ago.

“You’re thinking nice things about me now.” Kylo smiled as he pulled away, resting their foreheads together. “Quick, you’d better stop yourself.” 

Hux hadn’t been aware that Kylo knew he did that and it was rather embarrassing. 

“I don’t recall lifting your probation.” Hux tried to frown and failed.

“Taking on an angry mob for me when both you and Phasma know how to fly the ship? I’m not on probation. You want me here.” Kylo was smug. 

And Hux really did want him there. 

“Say it.”

“You already know.”

“But I'd like to hear you say it.” Kylo looked like he did in the field with the cow. Content.

This time, Hux didn't ruin it.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sure this has probably been done before and was unnecessary, but it was fun to write. It's 3am right now so I may need to edit tomorrow, sorry about any typos. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
